Day of the discovery of the relics of the Blessed Matrona of Moscow (08/03)

On this day, the Russian Orthodox Church celebrates the day of the discovery of the relics of the holy blessed oxbow Matrona of Moscow, one of the most revered saints in Russia.

Blessed Matrona (Matrona Dimitrievna Nikonova) was born in 1885 in the village of Sebino, Tula province, into a poor large family. Therefore, even before the birth of the child, the parents decided to send him to a shelter, fearing that they would not be able to feed another mouth. But the mother once saw a strange dream about a white bird of extraordinary beauty, but blind. Considering the dream to be prophetic, she left the thought of shelter.

The daughter was born blind, and not just blind – the girl had no eyes at all, and the eye sockets were closed with tightly closed eyelids. But the mother loved her child, and the Lord gave her spiritual sight, choosing her for special service. By the way, they also talk about the external, bodily sign of Matrona’s chosenness – on her chest there was a bulge in the shape of a cross, a miraculous pectoral cross. At baptism, the girl was named Matrona in honor of the Venerable Matrona of Constantinople.

From early childhood, with her actions and words, Matrona showed her chosenness – from the age of eight treated the sick and predicted the future for people. She felt danger approaching and foresaw natural and social disasters. Through her prayer, people received healing from illnesses and comfort in sorrows.

Having learned about this gift, visitors from surrounding villages and hamlets, from other counties and even provinces flocked to it. And she helped everyone, and wanting to thank Matron, people left her parents food and gifts. So the blind girl became the main breadwinner in the family, and not a burden at all. But at the age of 17, Matrona faced a new test – her legs were paralyzed, and until the end of her days she was «sitting». But I never grumbled about my illness…

And thousands of people continued to come to her for help, which, in the end, could not but attract the attention of the authorities at that time. Therefore, in order not to expose her parents to danger, Matrona moved to Moscow, where it was easier to hide, and where she lived for the rest of her life. The blessed one loved the capital very much, saying that « is a holy city, the heart of Russia», although here she became a homeless wanderer, constantly moving and living, sometimes, in terrible conditions. But everywhere she continued her ascetic life, received visitors during the day, and prayed at night.

During the Great Patriotic War, Matrona received up to forty people a day. People came to her with their troubles, mental and bodily pain, with questions about their loved ones. She did not refuse help to anyone, answered the question – who is alive and who is no longer there. And she did not take anything from anyone, but healing the sick, she demanded from them faith in God and correction of sinful life. She was not strict, was tolerant, compassionate, warm, always joyful, never complained about her illnesses and suffering. Matrona did not teach, she gave specific advice, prayed and blessed, taught not to condemn her neighbors, to live with prayer, to love and forgive the old and infirm.

Until the last days of her life, she lived righteously and continued to receive visitors. The blessed woman predicted her death in three days and died on May 2, 1952 in Moscow. At her request, she was buried at the Danilovsky cemetery in the capital.

More than thirty years after the death of Matrona, her grave became one of the holy places of Orthodox Moscow, where people from all over Russia came with their troubles and requests. And in March 1998, with the blessing of Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Rus', the honest remains of the blessed old woman Matrona were found at the Danilovsky cemetery. And after the completion of the work of the commission to open the burial, Matrona’s relics were transferred on May 1 to the Moscow Intercession Monastery, where the mass pilgrimage to the saint began. Thousands of people come here every day from all over Russia and abroad. They pray to Saint Matrona for a cure for illness, for the health of loved ones, for solving problems, etc.

Back in 1999, the blessed elder Matrona was canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church as a local saint of the Moscow diocese, and in October of the same year her church-wide canonization took place.

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